THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

The nervous and hormonal systems co-ordinate

various biological activities in the body of
multicellular animals, the basic structural unit of
nervous system is the nerve cell called neurone.
It consists of a dense, cell body and protoplasmic
processes called nerve fibres. A bundle of long
nerve fibre is called a nerve. The main
mechanism of information transfer is electric
impulses known as nerve impulses along the
nerve fibres.
All the nervous systems in complex animals have
the following:
a.The central processing region (the brain)
b.The nerves bringing impulses from receptors
to the brain.
c. Nerves carrying information from the brain to
the effectors.
Sensory receptors detect stimuli from the external
and internal environment and so act as
information collectors. They are often found in the
sense organs. Effectors include muscles and
glands that go into action on receiving nerve
impulses from the brain. Such actions include
muscular contraction, enzymes production,
hormone secretion etc.
The nervous system is divided into the central and
the peripheral nervous systems
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (CNS)
The CNS consists of the spinal cord and the brain
which are enclosed protectively within the
vertebral column and the skull respectively. The
CNS, in coordinating biological activities, receives a
constant input of impulses which keep it informed
of changes in the animal’s internal and external
environment.
Impulses to the CNS from receptors are
transmitted along sensory nerves and are
therefore known as sensory impulses. Those
impulses from the CNS to the effectors are known
as motor impulses since they are transmitted along
motor nerves.

THE BRAIN
An average- sized brain for an adult weight is 1.2 -
1.4kg. the brain consists of thousands of neurones
enclosed in the skull and covered by three layered
membranes i. e. meninges (outer dura, middle
arachnoid and inner pia matter). The ventricles
between layers of the meninges are filled with
cerebrospinal fluid. The brain consumes about 25
percent of the body’s oxygen supply. The brain has
three regions, the forebrain, middle brain and
hindbrain.

FOREBRAIN
This is the most predominant part of the brain,
connected with intelligence and speech. It
comprises of three major parts; cerebrum,
thalamus and hypothalamus.

Cerebrum
This occurs in two halves, connected together
through fibres called corpus callosum. The halves
are called the cerebral hemispheres. Each
hemisphere is made up of four indistinct lobes
which are frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital.
The most active region of the cerebrum is the
outer layer called cerebral cortex which is made up
of grey matter. The cortex is highly convoluted for
increased surface area. The more convoluted the
cortex, the more the cerebral capacity. The
cerebrum carries out its functions with each area
specializing in a particular activity. Cerebrum
a. control all voluntary actions.
b. it receives sensory information, processes it
and sends the response through the motor
neurones to the effectors.
c. it is the seat of consciousness, memory,
learning, intelligence, reasoning and judgement

Thalamus
This is oval in shape and acts as a relaying center.
Thalami
a. receives sensory information from lower parts
of the brain and the spinal cord, integrate it and
pass it to relevant regions of the cerebral cortex.
b. it helps to experience sensation.
Hypothalamus
This is the region below the thalamus. It
a. controls the pituitary gland
b. it acts mainly in the body homeostasis i. e.
controls body temperature, water balance and
blood pressure
c. it also controls emotion e.g. anger, fright, joy
etc.
d. it controls appetite and speech

MIDBRAIN
The mid brain connects the forebrain and the hind
brain. it consists of optic lobes and the pineal body.
a. controls reflexes connected with sight and
hearing
b. it is a link between the fore and the hind brain.

HINDBRAIN
The hindbrain consists of three parts; cerebellum,
pons varolii and medulla oblongata.

Cerebellum
It has three parts; a central part connected to two
lateral parts through the pons varolii. The two
lateral parts are called cerebellar hemispheres.
The cerebellum
a. controls the body posture
b. coordinates muscular movement to maintain
the body balance.

Medulla oblongata
This is the posterior end of the brain which
continues into the spinal cord. Unlike the
cerebellum and cerebrum, the medulla oblongata
has an inner grey matter and at outer white
matter. It
a. controls all involuntary actions e. g. yawning,
blinking of the eye
b. controls involuntary movement of the body
especially those involved in respiration, heart
beat and digestion.
c. Regulate the blood pressure by controlling
dilation and constriction of blood vessels.

THE SPINAL CORD (STRUCTURE AND

FUNCTIONS)
The spinal cord consists of thousands of neurones
which run down the length of the neural canal at
the back of vertebrates. The spinal cord is
enveloped within three layered membrane called
meninges. A narrow canal, the spinal canal runs
down the centre of the cord. The canal is filled
with a fluid called cerebrospinal fluid.
The transverse section of the spinal cord shows a
greyish region called the grey matter surrounded
by a lighter region called the white matter. The
grey matter is composed, practically of all the cell
bodies of the neurones in the spinal cord. Since the
cell bodies are dense, and

Cross Section of a spinal cord

 granular, they give this region it typical greyish
appearance. The white matter consists of the
nerve fibres of these cell bodies. Some of these
fibres run along the spinal cord to the brain
connecting both together. Other fibres leave the
spinal cord to form the spinal nerves.

The spinal cord functions in:

1. coordianting simple reflex actions such as
knee jerk and automatic reflexes such as
sweating.
2. It sends impulses to the to the brain and
responses from the brain to the effectors

THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

CONTENT
- Peripheral nervous system
- Somatic and autonomic nervous systems
- The neurones (Structure and function)
- Classification of neurones
- Transmission of nerve impulses
THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
These include the sensory system (receptor and
nerves leading from all parts of the body to the
CNS) and the motor system (nerves running from
the CNS to the effectors). The PNS consists of
twelve cranial nerves (connecting the brain to the
head and neck region) and thirty one spinal
nerves (connecting the spinal cord to the thorax,
abdomen and limbs).
The motor system is subdivided into somatic and
autonomic nervous system.

SOMATIC AND AUTONOMIC NERVOUS

SYSTEMS
The SNS consists of motor (efferent) neurones that
connect the CNS to each skeletal muscle. It serves
the parts of the body which take part in responses
to external stimuli and all voluntary actions.

The ANS consists of motor (efferent) neurones that

connect the CNS to glands, smooth muscles and
cardiac muscles. It regulates all the body’s
involuntary activities such as heart beat,
respiratory movement e. t. c. The ANS is
subdivided into sympathetic and parasympathetic
nervous system which works in opposition to one
another.
a. Sympathetic nervous system is made up of
nerves which connect internal organs to the
thoracic and lumber areas of the spinal cord. The
effect of this nervous system dominates in times
of emergency and exertion; it regulates
homeostatic mechanisms such as vasodilation,
vasoconstriction and secretion by sweat gland
etc.
b. Parasympathetic nervous system is made
up of nerves which connect internal organs to
 several cranial nerves and spinal nerves of the
sacral region. The effect of this nervous system
dominates during normal relaxed periods.

THE NEURONS (STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION)

Neurons (nerve cells) are the basic structural and
functional unit of the nervous system and are
responsible for transmission of impulses within the
body.

Each neurone is composed of some basic parts

namely:
a. a cell body (soma)
b. One or more short extensions or processes
called DENDRONS each of which branches to
form many DENDRITES. .
 c. a long process called axons which branch at
the free end and terminate at the synaptic
knobs.
The cell body may be oval, polygonal or star
shaped with a large nucleus and dense granulated
cytoplasm which give it its greyish colour. It relays
impulses it receives from the dendrons to the axon.
The dendrons carry nerve impulses that their
dendrites received to the cell body. The dendrites
are the main receptive regions of the neurons and
may be stimulated by sensory receptors and other
neurons carrying impulses.
The axons carry electric impulses away from the
cell bodies to the proper destination usually some
distance away. The axon of a motor neuron going
to a skeletal muscle may be several metres long.
It may also divide into several branches so that
impulses from one neurone go to several places.
Sometimes, a fatty sheath known as myelin
sheath surrounds the axon. The myelin is
interrupted at intervals by constrictions known as
nodes of ranvier. Myelin sheath acts as an
electrical insulator. It also increases the speed at
which impulses travel along the axon.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF NEURONS
In vertebrates, it is common to group neurons
according to their functions, these are:
 a.Sensory (afferent) neurons which transmit
impulses from the receptors to the CNS.
b. Motor (efferent) neurons which transmit
impulses away from the CNS to the effectors
(muscles and glands).
c.Relay (association or intermediate) neurons
which connect the pathways of sensory and
motor impulses. They are found mainly in the
central nervous system.

TRANSMISSION OF NERVE IMPULSES

Transmission of impulses along a neuron is by
electrical (through a nerve fibre) and chemical
(across a synapse) means. Three phases involved
include
a. RESTING STATE: - A state when a neuron is not
transmitting an impulse. In this state, the nerve
fibre is electrically polarized with excess sodium
ions (Na+) outside the cell and excess potassium
(K+) inside the cell. Therefore the cell becomes
positively charged outside and negatively
charged inside.
b. ACTION STATE: - When the dendrites of a
neuron receive impulses, the neuron becomes
depolarized and the cell membrane suddenly
permits the inflow of sodium ions and outflow of
potassium ions. The cell body then transmits the
impulse to its axon.
c. TRANSMISSION BETWEEN NEURONES: -
Transmission here is by chemical means. When
an impulse reaches the synapse, it stimulates the
secretion of a chemical substance called
acetylcholine which transmits the impulse to
another neuron or muscle fibres.